Lost My Wife to HELLP Syndrome

My wife Meg was 24 when she passed away, shortly after giving birth to our son Oliver. We were so excited to start a family and I never anticipated things to go the way they did.

We were about a week from the due date and went in for a routine checkup. Meg’s feet were swollen and she had previously complained about her vision becoming momentarily blurry, but she was feeling normal overall. However, her blood pressure was high during the checkup, so they decided to send us over to the hospital for some monitoring (she was very nervous, and I was trying to calm her). After a while monitoring her, they decided there were too many platelets in her urine and that we needed to induce (they mentioned the possibility of Preeclampsia). So we began that process overnight, which takes a while. Meg's heartrate (and the baby's heartrate) were now too high, however, and they told us we needed to get the baby out asap. Since she was not yet dilated enough, they decided an emergency C-section was needed (she was not happy about that). Oliver was then successfully delivered, but Meg's vitals quickly dropped over the next few hours. It seemed the doctors could not figure out how to stabilize her. They then performed CPR for a while, until we eventually lost her.

I wish there was more knowledge on this subject, to avoid having something like this happen to someone else. I had never heard of Preeclampsia or HELLP Syndrome before. However, Oliver is a very happy baby and has helped me immensely in the process of grieving the loss of my wife. I am learning what it means to be a dad and what a gift a child can be. Wishing everyone courage and love.

Thank you for sharing your story, and I am so very sorry for your loss. My husband and I lost our daughter this August, and very nearly me, due to HELLP (which I had never heard of either). Thinking of you and your beautiful Oliver this holiday season.

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